3/24/21

 From St Thomas to Great Inagua, Bahamas to Hog Cay, Bahamas......

Susan and Jerry in the cockpit of Persephone as we sail along....

The downwind sail from St Thomas to Great Inagua went by in a flash with 3 people on board to do watches.  Susan easily adjusted to the big swells and wind on the stern and the motion of the boat - her first time ocean sailing.  The only thing that bothered her was not being able to see at night, trying to see what was ahead during her watch.  There was no moon, only the stars to light the sky and the bioluminescence along the hull as we sliced through the water.  The few ships encountered were a long way off and showed up on the AIS screen on the chart plotter.  

In the 3 1/2 day sail Jerry caught a tuna and a mahi.  Can you see the mahi jumping?

Are we there yet Captain?

Land Ho!  Great Inagua in sight!

Most of The Bahamas are hard to spot as they hardly stick out of the water.  Great Inagua has a light house.  

Approaching Great Inagua

Lighthouse at Great Inagua

The anchorage off the government basin is very rolly with the sea swells coming in.  We launched the dinghy to come into the basin to clear in.  Being a Sunday, we found no government offices were open.  We did find that we could bring Persephone in and tie to a government pier for $10 a night which would be better than staying at anchor overnight to clear in the next day.

The government basin with the mail boat at the dock unloading and another sailboat nearby.

Our Monday morning started by learning that customs is using an online Click2Clear system for anyone checking in.  We were amazed at the number of sailboats that showed up to clear in coming from Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic!  Great Inagua is usually a very sleepy port with few arrivals per month.  The friendly customs officer came to the government basin to help everyone navigate the online pages required.  The immigration officer arrived as well with papers to fill out.  Our Covid test results from St Thomas were logged and we were able to have the 2nd required Covid test here at the clinic right next to the government basin.  Sheena, the aliv cell phone company representative, met everyone at the dock as well.  We bought a mifi plan to be able to log in to record our required week of daily health surveys for Covid and to be able to update the blog.

After leaving the government basin we rounded the corner and anchored at Man-O-War Bay passing the Morton Salt facility on the way.

A ship waits at the dock at the Morton Salt Company.

Here are some pictures we took from our walk north on Great Inagua to Alfred Sound.
 

A keel and prop shaft from a boat wreck.

A piece of fiberglass hull from a boat wreck.

Susan inspects the engine from the boat wreck.

Jerry inspects what we figure was the fuel tank from the boat wreck.

There are a couple of new cottages here on the beach at Alfred Sound.  Someone with a sense of humor hung this sign next to the door.

Maybe you'd like to rent a cottage on Alfred Sound?  Beautiful views, warm weather, remote.

While anchored at Man-O-War we had to opportunity to snorkel.  Here's Jerry with a lobster on his spear.

Jerry swimming with a lobster on his spear.

It was a long way to swim to the dinghy!  He tries to keep the lobster out of the water to avoid having to share it with the opportunists that may be nearby.  Here's a video of the same - getting a lobster is work!

Jerry's lobster!

One last video - a silly happy birthday song for Jerry, chocolate cake with ice cream from the freezer!  Here's how to keep ice cream in Persephone's new freezer - put the ice cream in a zip lock, press it flat and put it against the freezer box.  First time ever for ice cream on Persephone!

Susan enjoys paradise - chocolate cake, wine and the sunset.

Our next stop in The Bahamas: Hog Cay, part of the Ragged Islands where we spent most of our season last year.

A couple more mahi onboard..

Susan is the first to spot Ragged Island and hollers "Land Ho!" per Captain's instructions.

We anchored next to our friends Jerry and Donna on Bluejacket at Hog Cay.  Dinners together, games, sunset drinks at the "yacht club" with the other boaters who came in, hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, reading....life at Hog Cay.

Donna, Jerry, Jerry, Karen and Susan the photographer awaiting sunset before dinner aboard Persephone.

From the cave on Hog Cay looking to the west.

Susan on top of the world on Hog Cay hike.

The shoreline at Hog Cay.

Susan, the photographer, enjoying a morning paddle.

Sunrise around the corner from where we're anchored.

Sand dollar on the bottom in clear water.

How many crabs and lizards to make these tracks!  The only road or highway on Hog Cay.

Sea grapes almost ready to pick.  Once ripe they are tasty and tart with a chewy skin.

Sea ray from kayak

Around the corner from where we're anchored - just before sunrise.

Susan and I have spent hours every day hiking along Hog Cay.

A view of Hog Cay from the northern end.

Susan searches for treasures.

Susan and I search for glass floats in the dunes behind the beach.  We really searched, digging through piles of debris, looking under trees, sometimes crawling on hands and knees, pushing our way through shrubs and branches....

Another view by kayak

Lots of plastic trash and shoes on the beach

At the south end of Hog Cay - we've been marking "Baby Head Trail" for many years.

The new baby head trail marker on lower right.

Possibly a home made pull toy from Haiti?  When you don't have money to buy toys make your own.

The axles really turn - even after the ocean voyage to the beach.

Resourceful.  Clever.  

One of the resident nurse sharks here (we named it Florence) "walked" along the beach with us.  Felt like we were taking the dog for a walk.  I couldn't get the video to load on this page but you can watch it on YouTube while I try to figure out why it won't work here.  Nurse Shark Video

Persephone at anchor at Hog Cay.

Our plans are to head up the Ragged Islands/Jumentos making our way to Georgetown where Susan will fly back to Maine.  What a treat to have so much time to spend with my sister!  Lucky!

3/10/21

 My sister Susan arrived on March 1st to a disheveled Persephone!  A few days before Susan arrived our refrigerator died.  Jerry had been able to revive our fridge a couple of times every season for the last 6 years - but not this year.  Luckily, we were able to order a replacement unit from Reefco here in St. Thomas.  We spent last week installing a new evaporator box and compressor unit.  Of course, nothing is the same and it was basically installing a whole new unit instead of a quick replacement.

It's hard to describe what it was like to finagle the new 16" evaporator box into the 14" opening on the countertop for our fridge!  And then imagine Jerry laying on the counter trying to hold the box up with one hand and drill and screw the box into place.  The copper lines (you can't see) run along the inside of the box from the box to the thermostat in the corner.  He also fabricated a door for the box from some acrylic we found at the dump.  The plastic box you see on the right is my veggie bin Jerry made about 6 years ago.  It keeps the veggies from sliding to the bottom of the fridge (which is shaped like a funnel).

The compressor to run the fridge is larger than the old compressor.  It had to have a bracket fabricated to hold it in place under the sink in the galley.  Another tight spot to try to work!

Jerry connects the tubes and wires from the evaporator box to the compressor after spending hours getting everything in place and secure.  

We are so blessed to have friends here on Water Island!!!  Matthias had a portable 12 volt fridge we used for a week while waiting for the new unit to arrive and to install.  All of our once frozen meats were lugged up the hill to Matthias' parent's, Jurgen and Robyn's freezer.  (This happened on the night we were headed up to Robyn's for dinner!). We met the Bitterwolf family more than 20 years ago when Robyn was operating a school at their home on Water Island.  Their place has transformed through the years!  Check out the website for their place https://www.4elementsvirginislands.com.  What an amazing magical place and family!  Thank you Matthias and Amber, Robyn and Jurgen, Cassandra and Dominic!

Meanwhile, Susan had the opportunity to watch us work, read, swim, kayak,.....

Susan swims laps around Persephone and snorkels the bay.

Susan wanted to make sure I included this picture of me after the fridge was installed.  I had to put all the food back in the box and organize with....with my Mark Bittman cookbook and our dictionary to help reach into the box.  With the books I'm just about able to touch the bottom of the box.

Jerry has a loaf of multigrain bread ready for the oven!

The best way to eat bread - fresh out of the oven!

Yum!

It's a good thing Susan is here - she is always taking pictures!  I'm often the one with the camera snapping shots for this blog when I remember.  This time I'm in the shots.  

Susan and I take turns paddling the kayak around.

This is Limestone Beach on Water Island.

Limestone Beach driftwood and coconut shell.

Susan in the tree at Limestone Beach.

 

Sunset taken from our anchor spot at Honeymoon.  The number of boats anchored here are more than double what we're used to.  The BVI are closed - here's one of the few spots to anchor, dinghy to shore for drinks and dinner.

Susan and I dinghy to the dump to put our trash in the dumpsters.

After a week anchored at Honeymoon we motor to Crown Bay to fill up water tanks, diesel and gasoline for the dinghy in preparation for leaving for The Bahamas.  Then on to Long Bay near the Yacht Haven Marina where there's a dinghy dock to use while we do chores: provision, laundry and Covid tests.

Here we are on the dollar taxi on the way to the big grocery store.

I love these night shots Susan took of Yacht Haven Marina from our anchor spot!

The yacht to the left was Steve Jobs private yacht.  Very unique design.  Great photo Susan! 

From Susan's bunk in the v-berth she pops her head out the hatch and captures a rainbow.  Some days we open and close the hatches and port lights 20 times because of passing showers.

 

One of the last chores Jerry and I do - clean the speed log.  That's the paddle wheel thingy attached to the bottom of the boat.  The access is in the bilge.  The paddle wheel is covered with growth and teeny sea critters that have taken up residence while sitting at anchor.

The fridge installation, hiking, snorkeling, paddling, reading, chores and provisioning have kept us busy as we study the weather and wait for a decent weather window to head west to Great Inagua in The Bahamas.   I'm not sure when I will have the opportunity to post again - you should be able to check our location using the SPOT link.